this is the twins' father, paul jackson. >> the nurses in the nicu, they're very honest. they say it. they told me up front that, things look pretty good now but to be honest with you, that the next 48, 72 hours, they said, things can turn very quickly. >> reporter: and turn it did. when they were only 3 weeks old, one of the twins was struggling to breathe. her heart rate was soaring. her oxygen level dropping quickly. she was turning blue. >> not only was she having spells but they were severe. >> reporter: a nurse had the novel idea of taking the stronger twin and putting her in the same incubator as her sister, a procedure that at the time had never been done before in the u.s. >> it was one of those things that was -- it happened very quickly. they couldn't move that much. a little bit of a squirm and the arm just went up. >> reporter: the healthier sister, kyree jackson, put her arm around her sister brielle. her breeting and vital signs instantly stabilized. the image captured by a newspaper photographer who happened to be at the hospital. the picture dubbed "the r